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Impact of psilocybin on cognitive function: A systematic review
Shakila Meshkat1, Triana Juliana Tello-Gerez1, Fatemeh Gholaminezhad1
1Interventional Psychiatry Program, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
|October 2, 2024
Summary
Psilocybin shows mixed effects on cognition. While some cognitive functions remain unchanged, it may improve attention, memory, and emotional processing, particularly in treatment-resistant depression patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Psilocybin, a psychedelic, shows preliminary efficacy for psychiatric disorders.
- Understanding psilocybin's cognitive effects is crucial for assessing its therapeutic potential and risks.
Approach:
- Systematic review of 20 studies (2,959 participants) from inception to January 2024.
- Analysis focused on psilocybin's impact across various cognitive domains.
Key Points:
- Global cognitive function and processing speed were largely unaffected in healthy individuals.
- Improvements observed in sustained attention, working memory, executive function, and emotional processing, especially in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
- Psilocybin enhanced emotional empathy but not cognitive empathy or social cognition; cognitive flexibility and creative cognition showed initial decline with potential long-term improvement.
Conclusions:
- Psilocybin's cognitive effects are complex and varied, with notable benefits for specific functions in certain populations.
- Further research is necessary to elucidate psilocybin's precise impact on cognitive domains and inform clinical applications.
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